ANTON NEWCOMBE
The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s despot-in-chief picks songs for murder, drugs and devilish taunting.
1 BONNIE DOBSON WINTER’S GOING (from Bonnie Dobson, RCA Victor, 1970)
“I love this track, I love a murder ballad. Bonnie Dobson is a Canadian folk music songwriter, singer and guitarist. I’m a sucker for the Irish, Scottish American folk subgenre of ‘you got me pregnant you dirty rat so I am going to kill this child’ – keep an ear out for the ending. She’s most known for composing I’m Your Woman and Morning Dew – the latter is a melancholy folk rock standard, covered by Fred Neil, Lulu, Einstürzende Neubauten… she’s still around, I heard her talking on BBC6 not too long ago about her early days taking part in folk music writing camps with Pete Seeger. This is a good album too.”
2 CHER ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO (Imperial, 1965)
“It’s fucking Cher, that plastic queen of all things camp. But wait – here she is at the start, on par with The Byrds. Sonny Bono got her a solo deal, and I may be wrong so help me out here, but I was told he booked the studio next to The Byrds and when they were about to track this song he grabbed the session men and beat them to the presses. Anyway, this album is infinitely enjoyable. I would have included the Bee Gees’ first album too and made a point, a theme of people that made amazing albums before they taunted us like devils from the ivory towers of pop music.”
3 SUSAN CHRISTIE ECHO IN YOUR MIND (from Paint A Lady, Finders Keepers, 2006)
“She’s an American singer-songwriter from Philly. She had a modestly silly hit with I Love Onions in 1966. She later signed to Columbia Records and recorded Paint A Lady, an album of ‘psychedelic folk music’, in 1970, but it went unreleased for being non-commercial, and she was dropped. Only THREE VINYL COPIES of it were ever pressed. It languished in obscurity until 2006, when my friend Andy Votel of Finders Keepers received a copy and gave the album a CD release. It’s an absolute must have, I love love love it – Rainy Days, Yesterday, Where’s My Mind Gone… so amazing. Find it, buy it.”
4 STEVE YOUNG KENNY’S SONG (from Rock Salt & Nails, A&M, 1969)
“He’s a country singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known for Seven Bridges Road, who passed away in March. He was a pioneer of the country rock, Americana and alternative country sounds, and a vital force behind the ‘outlaw movement’. Van Dyke Parks wrote the song The All Golden about him, and he was in the Heartworn Highways documentary. Well for me, this moment was the high point of low topics… drug addiction. I love this subgenre of songs about drugstore addiction… Codeine. Such a lovely track for such a sad topic.”
5 MARGO GURYAN SUN (from Take A Picture, Bell, 1968)
“This album is, in fact, better than the last Oasis album, pound for pound. She was a singer-songwriter type from New York who penned Sunday Mornin’, a hit for Spanky And Our Gang in 1968. She wrote songs for quite a few people but, ultimately, her ‘career failed’ because of her attitude… I love her attitude. She knew it’s all a farce, being a pop star, being manipulated, being used. She didn’t care and I respect her for that. What is the most important thing at the end of the day? Well, that we create culture and that it eases the pain, that it shines a light in the dark corners, that someone out there hears and understands, ‘Hey, I’m not alone’.”